Oklahoma’s Newest Senator, Bryan Logan, Comes In Late

Friday, June 27th, Michael and I interviewed our newest Senator, Bryan Logan (Paden, OK) of SD8.

Bryan was sworn in May 21st, to replace former Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, Roger Thompson, who resigned effective November 1st, 2024, after being removed as Committee Chair by Senator Greg Treat in favor of Senator Chuck Hall.

Though Governor Stitt was well aware of Thompson’s resignation, he chose March 4th as the SD8 primary date with a general election May 13th. I’m still shaking my head at that, so I went out and looked at the statute that governs special elections.

This is the statute that applies: Title 26. Elections, §26-12-106. Vacancies in the Legislature. Here’s what it says for vacancies in odd years; A. Whenever a vacancy shall occur in the office of a member of the State Senate or the State House of Representatives, the vacancy shall be filled at a Special Election to be called by the Governor within thirty (30) days after the vacancy occurs; provided, no special election shall be called if the vacancy occurs in an even-numbered year if the term of the office expires the same year.

So…Thompson resigns from the Senate in July. On July 3rd, the Okmulgee Times had already posted the Governor’s proclamation on the vacancy. Here are all the things the proclamation must contain according to state law. The Times’ abridged version is below:

AMENDED EXECUTIVE PROCLAMATION I, J. Kevin Stitt, Governor of the State of Oklahoma, pursuant to the authority vested in me by 26 O.S. § 12-119, and pursuant to my constitutional obligation to cause the laws of the State to be faithfully executed, hereby order that a Special Election be held to fill an impending vacancy in the office of District 8 of the Oklahoma Senate, due to the irrevocable resignation of Roger Thompson set to become effective on November 1, 2024.

The candidate Filing Period for the Special Election shall be Monday, January 6, Tuesday, January 7, and Wednesday, January 8, 2025; the Special Primary Election shall be held Tuesday, March 4, 2025; and the Special General Election shall be held Tuesday, May 13, 2025. Any Special Runoff Primary Election, if necessary, shall be held on Tuesday, April 1, 2025.

Let’s walk through this then.

Thompson announced he was leaving in July. His last day was November 1, 2024. Stitt called the special election BEFORE Thompson’s last day, which seems premature according to state law which seems to read AFTER the vacancy occurred, not when notice of vacancy was given.

Then, the filing period could have begun on the 11th day after the proclamation. Why was that held until JANUARY? What happened to December? The first election could have been held 31 days after that, the run-off 21 days after that and the general 21 days after the primary. How was it then, that Bryan’s first election was March 4th, the run-off April 1st and the general May 13th?

That schedule meant that Bryan was sworn in on the 21st of May with only 7 calendar days left in the 2025 legislative session. Consequently, from November 1st to May 21st, SD8 had no representation in the state senate. Why?

Bryan is a bit bumfuzzled about that himself, but what he’s not confused about is his job as a legislator.

In the clip below, Bryan talks about how he decides on his votes. Hint: he’s got the idea down!

In the video below, our new Senator talks about the challenges of being an elected representative – he can’t represent people who won’t make their needs and desires known to him. We go on to talking about the fact that sadly, most people don’t pay attention and participate in the political process – the main reason why our government has gone off the rails on the crazy train.

At one point in the live video (which you can find on our YouTube and Rumble channels), we all three talked about this trend and about why it’s so important for constituents to reach out to their elected officials. Be THAT person! Reach out. Let your elected representative know your feelings. If you don’t, how will you KNOW your liberty is being protected? That’s absolutely our civic duty and we should never forget that our job isn’t JUST voting – our job only STARTS there. We must continue to pay attention – as much as we’re able – to what’s going on in our legislature. At this point, our liberty is very fragile and we MUST stay engaged with our legislators and remind them often, that protecting our liberty is the only reason they’re there. We’re pretty sure Bryan understands that!